Chapter 6
Amaranth and I near the mining shaft that will bring us into the ever-familiar darkness of District 12. At home I work in the mines, so I am very used to the pitch-blackness that comes with it all. We arrive at the shaft and quickly step in, ready to investigate the tunnels below.
Amaranth looks quite nervous as the mining shaft descends into darkness, but I keep calm. Of course we have no idea what lies in the maze of passageways below, but we're sure it has to be something important. Why else would it be hidden? Unless the gamemakers just assumed that anyone from District 12's instinct would lead them down here.
We reach the bottom with a loud thud that echoes throughout the dark passageways. I step off the platform before Amaranth and am surprised to find a lantern lying on the ground. It looks like it was dropped here by accident, and there is a dent in it's handle, but it will work nevertheless.
"Do you have any matches in your bag?" I turn to Amaranth.
"Oh, yeah I do," she seems to awaken from a daze.
Amaranth digs in her bag until she withdraws a match. She steps off the platform and towards me.
"Thanks," I say, taking the match from her outstretched hand.
I strike the match and light the lantern, which immediately illuminates the area that we're in. Straight ahead there is a long tunnel that leads into darkness. To our right and left lie more tunnels that are similar, though one seems to glow faintly.
"Which one do we go in?" asks Amaranth, breaking the silence.
"I'm not sure," I reply quietly.
Suddenly a scream rings out loud and clear through the passageways. Amaranth and I both go into attack positions, not knowing what we'll have to face.
There are a series of loud thudding noises, and Tara comes running out of the passage to the left, the darker one. She is screaming shrilly as she runs up to us and grabs me by the shoulders.
"If you value your life, run!" she screams at me.
As soon as she was here, she is gone, running down the tunnel ahead.
Amaranth turns to me, a look of fright on her face, "What is she talking about?"
Suddenly it hits me. The underground passageways are a trap from the gamemakers.
"Amaranth, we have to get out of here," I begin, "Right now!"
"Why?" she asks, but I don't need to tell her.
With loud yells of pleasure, four mutts bound out of the left tunnel. Even though they are just barely visible by the lantern light, I can make out their most distinct features.
They have razor sharp fangs, but not just in their mouth. Fangs litter their whole body, and their beady snake eyes seem to lock into mine. The parts of their bodies that aren't covered with snow-white teeth are pitch black, like the tunnels of the mine. Their screeches ring out through the tunnels, piercing our eardrums.
"Mutts!" Amaranth screams.
I grab her by the wrist and sprint down the same tunnel Tara had entered just moments before. Our footsteps echo loudly, and our heavy, terror stricken breathing is clearly audible. The screeching mutts are right behind us, and I can hear their fangs scraping against the cavern walls.
We seem to run forever, and I try to run even faster when I see light ahead.
"Up this way!" I yell to Amaranth as we near the light, which is a rope ladder leading aboveground.
The rope ladder is rough and unstable, and swings dangerously with every step we climb. The mutts will catch us if we don't climb fast enough, and I am afraid that they'll get Amaranth. She's not climbing as fast as me, and she is trying to hold onto her knife to keep from dropping it.
"My knife!" she screams as it slips from her shaking hand and clatters to the cavern floor below where the mutts are approaching the rope ladder.
"Leave it!" I yell, and finally reach the top of the ladder.
Amaranth is a reasonable ways away from me, and the mutts are now at the foot of the ladder, chopping away at it with their grotesque fangs. The rope ladder wont hold any longer, and Amaranth is almost to the top. Then two things happen at once. I realize that Amaranth will die as the ropes reach their final thinness, and Tara pitches herself into the darkness from right near me.
I was so caught up in trying to help Amaranth that I didn't notice her next to me. Why did she throw herself into the cavern, knowing that the mutts would tear her to pieces? Then it becomes clear to me, she was trying to save Amaranth by distracting the mutts.
As soon as Amaranth reaches the surface, a cannon sounds. We are both breathing heavily, and we're covered with coal dust. The mutts' screeching eventually gets quieter and quieter, and finally is reduced to silence.
After a long while, Amaranth says, "We're in the cornucopia."
I realize that she's right. We're right behind the large black box that Violet was sitting on yesterday, and her remaining packs litter the ground. Where is she though? Surely Marco and Alice wouldn't accept her after she murdered Saffron.
We stand up and make our way out of the cornucopia into the sunlight. Five tributes left. I wonder who will kill who, and to be honest, I'm not in the best shape to fight right now.
The careers are nowhere in sight, which is good or bad depending on how you look at it.
"Leon," Amaranth turns to me, "It was a trap."
"I know," I nod, "It looks like the tunnels connected the districts together, and that's probably how Tara kept making her escapes."
"Tara," Amaranth bites her lip, "Even though I tried to kill her before, she still sacrificed herself to save my life."
I still don't know why she did it, but I am glad that she did. Amaranth is a valuable ally at this point in the game.
"I wonder where Violet is," I say out loud. I hope she is safe, especially since the careers aren't where I left them.
"Looking for someone?" says a voice above us.
Amaranth and I turn around to see Marco on top of the cornucopia, holding a hand over Violet's mouth. In the other hand is one of Alice's daggers, pressed against the girl's throat.
Tears run down Violet's cheeks and she is fighting to break free from Marco's grasp.
"I figured you'd want to see her die," Marco smiles cruelly, "After all, she was the smartest player."
"What?" I ask, confused. I don't recall Violet doing anything worth being called 'the smartest.'
"She started to disable the bomb," Alice steps out from behind Marco's back, her face still as charred and ugly as before.
A look of terror comes across Amaranth's face, "You found out about the bomb as well?"
"Well, Saffron actually found it. When she went to steal little miss perfect's bags of food, she found the black box that the girl was laying near. Saffron wouldn't of known it was a bomb if it hadn't have been for Violet here."
"I don't understand," I say, confused.
"She started to disable the bomb," Alice explains, "She probably didn't want anyone using it to explode her stash of goodies."
Violet begins to cry harder and she stops fighting against Marco's grasp. She knows that she won't survive.
"Say goodbye," Marco says mockingly.
Then at the same instant that Violet's throat is slit, Alice falls to the ground off the cornucopia, a silver arrow protruding directly from her heart.